Football is officially back with Week 1 tonight in North Dakota! All 4 classes (AAA, AA, A, 9-man) will be in action, and I have a couple games I have my eye on!
Week 1 Games:
Class AAA-
#5 Minot at. #2 Fargo Davies
- An EARLY Top 5 matchup in AAA between the runners up in last year’s Dakota Bowl and the Champion from 2 years ago. Minot was slow to start last year, and will look to get going early in the season that has to contend with both Bismarck Schools and the top Fargo Schools as well. Minot will also have to defend the tricky 3-back system that Davies runs. With this matchup being so early, I don’t see this being a make or break kind of game for either team, but could be an early indication of what team has a good season ahead of them.
Class AA –
RV Devils Lake at. #2 Kindred
- Kindred will make their debut in AA, and already has good momentum entering Week 1. The Vikings were ranked #2 in the opening poll of AA, so most believe that the ‘powerhouse’ reputation Kindred gained in Class A will carry over to AA. Kindred will host the Firebirds who will look to bring the Vikings down a notch and welcome them into AA with a road win. Can Kindred become AA’s powerhouse? We will wait and see tonight.
Class A –
#2 Langdon Area/Munich @ RV Valley City
- Langdon Area/ Munich is my early preseason pick for Class A Champion, they travel to newcomer to Class A Valley City who was welcomed to the Class by Velva/Garrison/Drake-Anamoose (not the ideal team to play in your first game in Class A). But Valley City could climb right into the rankings with a home win against the #2 team in the Class, and Langdon Area/ Munich will need the win to keep pace with Velva who seems to be taken over Kindreds roll as the new powerhouse in Class A.
9-Man –
All of them/ None of them.
- 9-man features a lot of lopsided matchups to kick off Week 1, there wasn’t a game that really stuck out to me this week. New number 1 New Rockford-Sheyenne Maddock takes on St. John, #2 Lamoure-LM is off this week and will have to wait to take their recent demotion out on another team. Other than a small handful Week 1 features a lot of 0-1 and 1-0 matchups including other ranked teams, North Border, Linton HMB, and Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood. Can we see a major upset, and spark some interest heading into Week 2?
Make sure to stay up to date during the first week of high school football in North Dakota during the Prep Sports Roundup on KSJB 600am and 100.1 FM also streaming on our website and mobile app! Live updates, discussions, rankings, and analysis from 7-10 pm EVERY Friday during the high school football season!
Photo Credit: NDHSAA
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